


Kicking In

by Jacynon



Category: Lego Ninjago, The LEGO Ninjago Movie (2017)
Genre: Developing Relationship, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Mild Sexual Content, Multi, Past Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-21
Updated: 2018-03-21
Packaged: 2019-04-05 11:49:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14043660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jacynon/pseuds/Jacynon
Summary: Cole knows it's bad for him to be drinking when he's sure he's got a fever, but he's not going to pass up the chance to spend time with two of his closest friends. A night with Nya and Jay goes much farther off the rails than he'd ever expected.





	Kicking In

**Author's Note:**

> I didnt expect to get this invested in lego ninjas

Sometimes, Cole feels like his life can be fully retold just by his mistakes.

Like, okay, maybe he's being a _little_ dramatic. But not by much.

He's not the best at making decisions that're actually good for him, just what he thinks will be fun or enjoyable in the moment. He thinks he should give himself a bit of credit, though, since he's at least gotten better about it. He doesn't indulge himself in overeating nearly as much as he used to, something that's been messing with his health since he was young. It was a matter of rebellion at first - going against the food his dad wanted him to eat, taking his diets and completely flipping them on their head just for the sake of pissing his old man off - but it continued even after he'd become a ninja and left his family behind.

Then, there's the fact that he'd gone a while with quite the drinking problem. It's at least been something he's gotten under control. He just doesn't like to think about it for too long, knowing he was basically an alcoholic for a period in his life.

And he'd done his fair share of overexerting himself before his training was able to catch up to him. The beginnings of his physical transformation still aren't fun to look back on, remembering the times he'd worked himself to the point where he'd throw up and when his muscles had been so sore that he could barely move until he'd finally have no choice but to let them rest.

It's like he's a sort of accidental hedonist.

Head leaning on his hand, he's jolted out of his thoughts when Jay comes back from his and Nya's kitchen and slams the shot glasses down on the table. "Round three!" he exclaims, and Nya just raises her tequila sunrise in celebration.

Cole thinks that drinking with friends is at least a bit better than drinking alone.

That's not to say his decision to join the two in their apartment tonight wasn't super impulsive of him. It totally was. Like, yeah, he's spent time at their place more than once, but he finds that he's been doing it a lot more lately. He reasons it's because they're his best friends. But he remembers years prior when he'd been so much closer with Kai, even moreso to Zane - his _actual_ best friend, he thinks, but he pushes that aside because the longer it's in his head the worse he'll feel - and guilt builds in his gut at the fact that he's drifted a bit from them. Not entirely; they're all still the protectors of Ninjago, after all, as well as a family. It's just that Cole feels...disconnected from them.

No, that's not entirely right.

He just feels _more_ connected to Jay and Nya, now that he thinks about it, and the comparison has been making him overly worried about his other relationships.

There's also the fact that there are quite a few unresolved feelings between him and Nya.

Cole doesn't like feelings.

That's why he's buried those not-feelings deep, deep down and chosen to never again acknowledge them, because he's long since come to the conclusion that he's just happy to see his friends happy together, and that's all that matters. He cares about them too much to get between them. Maybe he was blinded for a time by how suddenly the emotions manifested, but he's got enough of a clear head to know that he never wants to put his friendships in jeopardy ever again.

That's why he doesn't feel jealous when Nya spills her drink on Jay and then kisses him to make up for it. Instead, he just laughs and asks, "What, you guys gonna put on a show for me?"

He sniffs and hopes his voice isn't too nasally, though he imagines they wouldn't notice too much even if it were.

Cole knows it's bad for him to be drinking when he's sure he's got a fever, but he's not going to pass up the chance to spend time with two of his closest friends.

And, well...

"Oh, come on!" Jay tries to speak over Nya's maniacal laughter, ringing in Cole's ear. "Is this game rigged?"

At that, Cole only raises an eyebrow, finally tuned back into the real world. It's a wonder how easily he can space out when his head is burning and his sinuses are screaming at him, all on top of the Jameson running through him. "Can you even rig a board game?"

Nya just scoffs and nudges him. "He's just upset that I'm gonna conquer all of Ninjago," she leans back in her chair and grins triumphantly, pointing to Jay. "Off with the underwear, loser!"

He's not sure how they ended up playing strip Risk, or if he's even sure he remembers how to play, but it's just about the most fun time he's had in a while, so he doesn't really care that he's lost at least six territories within the last ten or so minutes. It helps that he's already without his shirt and shoes, since he's fairly sure he'd actually be on fire otherwise, and he doesn't think the whisky is the only thing at fault. It's not even the fever that's doing most of the job, he thinks, wiping away sweat from underneath his neck.

Honestly, he's just glad that Nya is definitely better at the game than either of them, because he might just die if she loses her dark blue bra. He's already having a hard enough time _not_ looking at her chest, even though he thinks the other two are a bit too tipsy to care. It's about the principle.

It might be part of why he's been targeting Jay the majority of the time. But it's not like anyone can prove that.

"I can't believe my girlfriend is an evil dictator," giving a little fake sob, Jay places a hand over his chest dramatically.

Cole plays along and gives a theatrical gasp. "Who would've thought? The Ninja of Water is also Ninjago's greatest threat," but he stops himself when he sees Jay in the corner of his vision grab a pillow from the couch and place it over his exposed crotch. He does wonder in the back of his mind what it means in regards to the rules of the game if Jay doesn't have anything left to remove, but doesn't think any of them care enough to say anything. But he does speak up about something else. Raising an eyebrow, Cole questions him. "Why are you covering yourself up like that?"

"Dude, you'll see my dick!"

"Dude, I've already seen your dick," he points out. "Like, more than once. I bet Nya has, too."

Nya happily chimes in, gesturing with her drink so fast that some comes flying out onto the carpet, "You're not wrong!"

Though he doesn't remove the pillow, Jay lays his face down on the table and groans, the tips of his ears red enough to show that his face is probably burning up. "I hate the both of you," he says in a muffled voice.

Beside him, Nya leans into Cole and whispers, though she does so loud enough to where she knows Jay can hear her. "He means he loves us."

Around halfway through the night, Cole switches to water.

He realizes a little bit too late that he really should've cut himself off much earlier, but he knows the other two drank just about as much as him, if not more. It's likely due to the fact that he can feel his sickness getting worse - either a cold or the flu, he's not sure - and it's only been serving to amplify his dizziness. He's hoping the other two don't notice that he's more often than not been breathing from his mouth.

They've by this point already put the game away. Nya was the victor, of course, and they finally let Jay at least put some pants on after a while of making fun of his embarrassment. Cole, able to convince them to call it a night after reminding them that they all agreed to meet up with Kai and Zane the next day, makes a move to put his clothes on and head out the door.

That is, before Jay's voice stops him, he and Nya leaning against each other on the couch. "You can spend the night here, man. If you want. You don't have to, but - "

"Hey, if you're offering," Cole replies slowly, unable to find it in himself to reject it while the room is still spinning. He really wasn't looking forward to walking home. Not to mention he'd spent many nights at their place before. "I'm gonna go pass out now."

He makes his way to the spare room and unceremoniously flops down on the bed before realizing he didn't even put the covers over himself.

But moving his muscles is a bit of a chore. Still, he shifts to slip under them, knowing he feels far too hot but being too out of it to care. It's hard to ignore the fact that his stomach is doing flips, but there are a lot more pressing matters to worry about when it comes to how shitty he feels. All that matters is that he can sleep this off and probably feel more coherent in the morning. Worse, but more coherent.

The sound of the door opening makes him jolt wide awake.

Damn his reflexes, he'd probably be on his feet in a panic if he wasn't sure it'd make him vomit on the spot. Instead, he just turns his head and then relaxes when he sees who it is.

Nya's shadowed face appears in the doorway and he squints his eyes, the light far too blinding. It's hard to see her outside of the silhouette. But, he can tell by the extra limb he sees that Jay's just next to her. He opens his mouth to question what they want right now, hoping it's not to play some dumb game again or to impulse watch a movie or show, because he's _really_ not in the mood for it -

"Hey, Cole," she's still speaking slowly, though it sounds more deliberate now than it did before. "Do you wanna come have sex with us?"

There's a moment of silence as Cole runs the question through his head.

Now, he knows that he should be giving this more consideration than he is right now.

Under normal circumstances, he might be freaking out, but through his drunken stupor he oddly enough feels able to rationally and calmly analyze the situation. It's not a question someone normally hears from two of their best friends. Not to his knowledge, anyway. Maybe it's different when said best friends are dating each other. He's not really sure, nor is he conscious enough to care. All he can think is how _un_ -sexy he looks and feels right now, snot running down from his nose and his sinuses all clogged up, head still foggy.

If there was ever the exact reverse of being in the mood, he's sure he's hit it.

So, he groans out, "No, thanks. I'm...I'm good."

"Ah," next comes Jay's voice, and Cole's imagination runs wild even as his best friend responds hesitantly. "Alright. Goodnight, man."

The reality only dawns on Cole once the door closes.

Nya and Jay just asked if he'd have sex with them.

What _would_ it be like to have sex with both Nya and Jay? What did they even have in mind? He knows he's regretting not saying yes, just for the sake of satisfying his own curiosity, but he still really doesn't want to. He feels a little sick at the idea, in fact. Not from the concept itself. Just from how sick he _already_ feels, and how miserable he'd be if he started to - Hell, he doesn't even know - let Nya ride him, or suck Jay's dick. He laughs a little to himself at the thought and rests an arm over his eyes, because prior to tonight, it might've all seemed absolutely absurd.

It still is.

 _Fuck_ , what's he even thinking?

Sleep can't come fast enough.

* * *

Do you ever wake up and then, like, immediately step in your own dried vomit?

Because that's what Cole just did.

He doesn't even remember throwing up the night prior, is the thing, but he reasons it's got to've come from him. And his first thought is, _shit, I've totally messed up their carpet_ , so he rushes to the closet to find something that can help him clean it up the best he can. All despite his extreme light-headedness, the fact that the world around him is moving up and down in somewhat of a blur, and his inability to stand without swaying from side to side.

Once he's finished, he takes a moment to sit on the edge of the bed and just collect himself. Or, to at least try.

The room still smells rancid enough to make him nauseous, but he's sure he doesn't have anything left in his stomach to get rid of.

But he's gotten out of his bed in the past feeling worse, so he brings himself to his feet and they carry him to the door. The change in smells is like sensory whiplash as he goes out into the hall, recognizing it as eggs and bacon, and his stomach is surprisingly soothed. _Breakfast_. He thinks immediately how much he loves Nya or Jay, whichever has made food, then hopes that there isn't too much of it. Cole's admittedly a lot better at portioning himself when there's not much and when he's got to share.

Maybe it's weird that he's so eager, but he regardless knows he needs to get something in his system or he'll feel even worse.

"You look terrible, dude," Jay says once he sees Cole walk through he doorway. "Come on, eat something."

Though, Jay's not really one to talk. He's sitting at the small dining table while Nya is busy in front of the stove, setting up their dishes. Cole's apparently made it just at the right time because she brings the food over not too long after he sits down next to Jay. They eat in silence, but Cole knows that it's for all different reasons. His is that he basically inhales his breakfast and doesn't have time to talk in-between bites.

But even when he's cleaning up the dishes with Nya, she's staying quiet and more or less still trying to settle herself. He can tell by her glazed-over eyes and slowed movements.

Jay's got to be looking the worst out of all of them. Which makes sense, considering he's much more prone to terrible hangovers than either of the other two. His head's buried in his arms on the table and he looks to be taking a nap. _Must not be too comfortable,_ Cole thinks, but he lets the guy get some rest while he and Nya clean up.

"Think I'm sick," he stops himself when they finally sit down next to Jay and the Blue Ninja lazily raises his head up to look at the both of them, though he's still slouched forward. It's only through their blank looks that Cole starts realizing he should be more specific about the _kind_ of sick he is. "Like, I think I was catching something yesterday."

It's amazing how easily the two can be taken out of their mutual daze with immediate worry. Nya frowns at him and puts a hand on his arm. "What? Oh, if we knew, we wouldn't have asked you to drink!"

He shrugs and gives a lopsided smile. "Nah, totally worth it. Seriously. I had a great time," he says, because he really did, but he's not sure if he properly conveyed that. He wonders briefly if the fact that he'd been so detached almost all of yesterday tipped them off, or if him turning them down the night before has made them feel like he's somehow upset with either or both of them, so he decides to mention it instead of beating around the bush. "Sorry. 'S why I never took you guys up on that offer last night. Felt like Hell."

Both of them go still and wide-eyed as if he's just caught them on something.

Or, maybe like they're only just remembering. But he doesn't think any of them often get blackout drunk, and while they definitely went a little overboard, he still has a fairly decent memory of what'd happened the day before. It's just hard to tell where the panic is coming from, in his opinion.

But Jay speaks up before he can question either of them and pretty deliberately changes the subject. "O - Oh. It's alright. Hey, want me to go run us a bath?"

Cole starts to relax at the very thought of it, finding it in himself to smile. He doesn't even care that the subject is being dodged. He'll worry about it later. "A bath sounds _amazing_ right now."

Standing up carefully, Jay saunters into the bathroom and the faint sound of running water cuts through the walls. Cole's left alone with Nya at the table before he realizes it and they both share a blank look, like they're only just acknowledging each other now. It's always odd being with her and no one else. And he doesn't think it's only because it isn't something that usually happens. It just feels more natural when Jay's around, though he doesn't notice that until the guy's already gone.

She sighs and stares at him gently.

"I'm sorry you aren't feeling well. I mean, y'know, asides from the obvious," she laughs and he gives a smile in return, but she suddenly becomes more nervous than he's used to seeing her. "It totally makes sense why you wouldn't want to - well, _do_ anything while you're feeling like that. Not...to say that you couldn't say no _otherwise_. I mean, you had every right to turn us down. We did kind of throw it at you."

A wave of understanding rushes over him as he starts realizing where her worried state's been coming from.

He has to wonder if either of them are suspicious of the timing, or if they think him turning them down had much to do with anything other than his sickness. "Nya, don't worry. I'm pretty sure I would've taken you guys up on the offer if I wasn't basically leaking out of every hole on my face," he says with a laugh, recalling just how disgusting he'd felt in just about all ways at the time.

It only registers in his head what he's just said after they begin sitting in silence.

Her eyebrows are raised in what seems like an almost pleased disbelief. She swallows and the edges of her cheeks start to turn pink. "That's good to know."

He takes a breath and rubs at the back of his neck. "So, like, did you guys just...do it anyway?" there's a long pause after the words leave his mouth and they just stare at each other because _wow, he really just said that,_ and _he's just totally unable to talk this morning, huh?_ He can see her face turning a dark shade of red but knows already that he probably looks even more flustered than her without even needing to see himself. Quickly, he stumbles to correct himself. "Okay, I really didn't mean to make it sound like that. Wow. You don't have to answer if - "

She cuts him off before he can finish his poor attempt at saving the blunder.

"No, no, it's fine. Really. I...don't mind if you ask about it," she says, breathy and clearly nervous, and he's so tempted to tell her to calm down because they're two of the more level-headed people on their team and yet they're both acting like embarrassed morons for stupid reasons. Cole definitely can't be cool enough for the both of them when she says things like _that_ and tucks her hair behind her ear in just about the cutest way possible.

It's hard not to think of the implications of what she's saying and his mind starts spinning in heated circles. Because Jay is _right there_ in the next room and Nya's saying _all of this_ and Cole just doesn't know what to do with himself. "You don't?"

Thankfully, she seems to be gaining more confidence as she recognizes just how anxious he's becoming and she moves to place her hand on top of his, giving it a little squeeze.

Already, he feels somewhat placated and comforted, but her voice begins soothing him when she starts speaking. "Of course not," he finds himself getting lost in her smile, but he's also very much intent on listening to what she has to say, hoping to get some semblance of an explanation. "Cole, listen. You know I've really liked you for a long time now. I love you. And Jay loves you, too. I'm sorry we brought this on you the way we did, because now you probably don't think we take you seriously, but we do."

There's probably something logical and reasonable to be deciphered from her words, but all he can think about is how many mixed signals he's getting.

It's like he has all the edge pieces of an enormous puzzle solved for him, but he's still gotta fill the rest in. And he doesn't know what the resulting picture is supposed to be. And all the pieces are flipped upside-down.

Maybe that's a bad analogy, but he doesn't care.

Part of him wants to pull his hand away and to distance himself from her, but a bigger part of him outweighs that and he ends up rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand. He smiles and shrugs nonchalantly. "Um, I don't really hold it against you. I mean, we were all pretty...y'know."

"Y - Yeah, that's true," she says, though from the looks of it, she doesn't know how to take his response.

He knows there's more to be said on the subject.

Both of them are about to open their mouths to speak again when the bathroom door opens up.

Of course, it's Jay who peaks his head out, and steam comes drifting through the ajar entrance. "Hey, uh, the bath is ready," he waves to Cole, then shifts his focus over to Nya. "Did you want to - ?"

Cole imagines he's about to ask her if she wants to take one after them. That's his first inclination, anyway. But she responds before Jay finises his question, shaking her head and smiling. "Nah, took one before you guys got up. You can have him now," she winks at Jay and lets go of Cole's hand, and he only just then realizes that Jay must not have noticed it. A rapid panic and then relief run through him.

As if what she's said is some sort of inside joke, the both of them share a laugh, and Cole doesn't think to question it as he passes Jay and heads into the foggy bathroom.

* * *

It's definitely not the first time that Jay and Cole have taken a bath together, but it for some reason feels that way.

Cole imagines he would be more embarrassed about it if he wasn't feeling like the world around him probably shouldn't be existing right now. That might be something he could see as a good thing if he can just stop feeling like he'll never be warm again. He can't bring himself to blush at the newfound questionable nature of his and Jay's relationship right now because he's too busy feeling like a freezing corpse by the time his clothes are all off. And Jay just looks exactly the same as all the other times Cole's seen him naked.

Plus, Jay's still looking like he wants to cut his own head off just to make it stop hurting.

So, yeah.

Doesn't give them much room to be awkward. It's hard enough to just be.

The steam rising from the bath makes Cole feel better even before he slowly submerges himself. Jay's always made the water a little too hot, but he doesn't mind, because he does the exact same thing. He supposes that's why they don't mind bathing together, outside of the fact that they've been doing it for years. It's just habit by now. But he goes from rigid and cold to way too hot in the span of a few seconds, the only difference being that he really doesn't mind the latter as much as the former.

Jay positions himself across from Cole and their legs cross over each other. As if trying to will the hangover away, Jay takes a deep breath and sighs hard, letting his arms fall over the edges of the tub and leaning his head back. It's harder than usual for Cole to look away, and he doesn't try to.

"So," even though Cole isn't expecting Jay to be too talkative, the Blue Ninja is the first to chat, eyes still focused on the ceiling. "Been meaning to ask you this for a while. Do you still like Nya?"

It catches Cole so off-guard that his sharp intake of breath echoes about the bathroom walls, sound only accompanied by the soft dripping of water from the faucet.

His mind goes into overdrive and he starts thinking at a mile a minute, first _he saw_ , then _he knows_ , and finally _this is seriously how our friendship is going to end._ The guilt starts eating away at him, feeling like a parasite that he can't find a way to remove, and he decides that the directions on the back of the shampoo bottle by the side of the tub are much more fascinating to look at than Jay at the moment.

But he also knows that he can't just stay silent when confronted with that kind of question, because _not_ answering would be more incriminating than anything he could possibly say, so he clears his throat and speaks. "Why are you asking me that?"

The worst part is probably how blank Jay's expression and tone are, since for once, Cole just can't tell what the guy's thinking, and that just feels wrong. Jay's not supposed to be this good at keeping his thoughts a secret. Still, he says, "I know we've fought over her before, but I just wanted to know if you still had a thing for her," in just enough of an objective and detached way that Cole might mistake this conversation for a casual talk about their new training regimen or something if he didn't know any better.

"Oh," he replies, trying not to let the anxiety bleed into his voice. "Why do you wanna know?"

Finally, Jay raises his head to look directly at Cole, and he doesn't seem at all angry. In fact, he just seems inquisitive, and even a bit nervous. He rubs the back of his neck and shrugs slightly.

He gets a far-away look in his gaze like he's reminiscing on something when they break eye contact. "I'm...really happy with Nya," he starts softly and carefully, picking and choosing his words to properly get across what he's feeling. Cole wishes he could be that straight-forward all the time. Then again, it's not like Jay's ever been quiet about his feelings. "I am. And I know she's happy, too. I just also know for a fact that I'm not the only one she loves. It's taken me a long time to come to terms with that, but it's the truth."

Something clicks in Cole's mind.

For the first time, he makes the connection between his previous conversation with Nya and his current one with Jay, as well as what they'd asked of him last night, and he starts to realize that it's coming from _both_ of them. It's something they've talked about without him, something he thinks he understands now.

And he feels a pit start to form in his stomach.

"I'm sorry. No."

A mix of shock and disappointment and dejection flashes across Jay's face, and Cole's not sure where it's coming from. "You _don't_ like Nya?"

And Cole has to take a few seconds to collect himself because _that's not the point_. He even says as much. "It's not about that. Whether I do or don't, I can't do that to you. I just _can't_ , even if you say you're okay with it. I don't want to get in the way of you two," the idea of what the two are obviously suggesting just makes his gut flip with how many consequences could arise from an arrangement like it. "Not again. Never again. What happened to us last time was - "

But, Jay stops him and shakes his head, pure confusion and an almost amusement making the corner of his mouth twitch up. "That's - it's not the same. Don't worry, it's not just that I'm offering we both date Nya. That's not what this is about."

Cole blinks and looks at him firmly. Now, he's lost.

If that wasn't what they were suggesting, he honestly has no idea what's going on, or what he's supposed to expect. A part of him is embarrassed for assuming without even asking, but Jay doesn't seem all too offended by the misunderstanding, only staring at Cole as if he's begging the Earth user to suddenly get it without him having to spell it out. But Cole's so out of his mind that he cuts to the chase. "Then, what _is_ this about?"

Even more surprising than the turn their conversation's taken is when Jay moves himself closer to Cole, the sound of the water shifting between them. Jay places his hands on his friend's chest as his knees find themselves on either side of Cole's hips and they're all too suddenly just inches from each other, with Jay's expression a lot more intense than either of them are used to.

He lays it out for Cole in the most blunt way he can manage. "I'm not asking if you want to be with her. I'm asking if you want to be with _us_."

It's not even easy to identify what goes through Cole's mind when he's confronted with this. In a way, he feels like the absolute dumbest person on the planet, but he also finds the words to be too unbelievable to beat himself up over not guessing them from the beginning. He jokingly thinks about how he supposes Nya saying he and Jay belong together is something they've seem to have taken a little too far, but he gets a bad taste in his mouth from the idea of making this into a joke.

He's not even sure he'd be able to do it if he wanted to.

Because he's kind of internally freaking out.

"Wait, the both of you?" he asks for clarification, then berates himself silently over how dense he's acting.

For what feels like the first time, Cole is actually grateful at how easily Jay can get flustered and awkward and overly talkative, because he immediately starts rambling after a moment of registering Cole's question. "O - Obviously you don't have to say yes, or even give an answer right now. I mean, trust me, we were planning on bringing it up _way_ differently in the first place. Not while drunk, at least. We kinda botched that one."

Nya's wording - _with us_ \- comes back to Cole and he once again wants to slap himself in the face for not being able to put two and two together.

He decides to wave it off, chuckling lightly and playing it off as no big deal. "Don't worry, I was like...barely alive, I'm pretty sure. You probably could've told me you wanted to kill me and I would've just politely declined."

It feels like the conversation comes to a halt after that. Jay backs off, giving him some physical space, and Cole's not sure whether to be happy that he's not practically suffocating from the heat anymore or upset that Jay feels like he has to worry about their proximity now that the question is out there. He's a bit of both. More of the latter, he thinks. _God_ , he's pathetic.

What kind of idiot is this severely touch-starved even when he's been feeling like he's either dying or already dead at any given passing moment? Maybe Jay and Nya really are onto something with this proposal.

But, dating not only Nya, but also Jay? It's not something he's given thought. Not like he's had an entirely solid stance on his sexuality throughout his life, anyway. It was just one of many things he knew his family would judge him on if he were more open about it, so he'd never even thought to bring it up or to make it a point to focus on it. He'd just shoved it to the back of his mind, put his mind on bigger things, and - well. He'd still ended up a disappointment. Just for different reasons.

Great thing to be looking back on when he's just been asked out.

_Thanks, brain._

He figures he should be coming up with some sort of response, something to say, even an answer. But he just draws up so many blanks, so many dead ends, and it's hard to tell where they all even come from. And Jay's looking at him like a kicked puppy and _seriously, dude, just say something._

Jay beats him to it, though, with a hesitant question. "Are we cool?"

Hearing that makes Cole frown and his head short-circuit and he starts realizing that he'd do just about anything to erase that expression from Jay's face forever.

"Dude, always," he says without missing a beat.

It's the wave of relief that rushes through Cole when he sees Jay's small reassured smile that makes him start reconsidering his entire life. The ensuing silence is, at least, a comfortable one.

* * *

The bath might not have made Cole feel amazing, but he can at least say he's now somewhat alive and his thoughts are starting to make a bit of sense.

Most notably is how he's able to fully acknowledge how bad he is at communicating sometimes. It's a wonder he managed to be a decent leader before Lloyd had taken the reigns by virtue of destiny with how often he gets things absolutely backwards, but he figures some of it has to do with sheer luck. Or a lot of it. He's now had both Nya _and_ Jay talk to him one-on-one about the exact same thing and he's yet to give a real response to either, even not understanding the point at first despite it being practically shoved in his face, looking back on it objectively.

But he doesn't think he's in quite enough of a stable mind to give either of them a reliable answer. Or even give himself one.

He might dislike feelings, but feelings seem to dislike him just as much.

He loves Jay, but does he love Jay _like that?_ Does it even really matter? Is he a bad person for considering whether it matters or not? Sources are thus far undecided.

Cole's just currently doing his best to not have an emotional breakdown.

Thankfully, Nya seems to have just the distraction ready for them as he and Jay enter the living room. It's hard to tell what she's doing at first, but Cole leans on Jay's shoulder as the two watch her shuffle through a pile of stacked cases on the ground. She then turns around and gives them a quick wave, holding up two in her other hand as she's knelt down on the ground next to their film collection. "You guys wanna watch a terrible movie and then nap until noon?"

It's at this point that Cole decides that the worries he had about his friendships with these two being in jeopardy were all more or less in his head. They can't both just know how to say the exact thing he needs to hear right when he needs to hear it if his worries hold any real merit.

He leans over the back of one of the armchairs and grins at her. "Nya, I love you."

"Aw," her cheeks turn pink and she puts a hand to her head in a fake swoon, acting a lot more bashful than she actually is. They've said that they love each other before. Now, though, the words seem to hold an odd amount of weight. But none of them acknowledge it and she just pokes a finger at his cheek playfully once she gets up. "Just for that, you can have the first pick for your spot on the couch."

Immediately, Jay starts his over-dramatic protesting. "Oh, come on! I love you, too!"

"Sorry, Jay! Should've said it first."

The light-hearted nature of their morning continues at Cole's relief. He finds himself sitting between the two and a blanket that just barely fits all of them is thrown across their laps. Nya puts on the first awful ninja movie they can all agree on watching. He can already tell that none of them are fully paying attention by the end of the first scene in _Ninja's Extreme Weapons,_ but it's a mind-numbing experience nonetheless, and that's more than alright in Cole's book.

While Nya points out all the flaws in the sword fighting technique of the characters with more meticulous detail than even Cole can follow, Jay periodically bursts out laughing at and imitating the terrible dubbing.

It definitely doesn't stop being entertaining, but they eventually run out of things to comment on, and both of their heads start resting on each of Cole's shoulders. He doesn't say anything about it because, _well_ \- he figures he's alright with it if they are. And they clearly are. Not that he needs to question that, at this point.

Eventually, his eyes start to grow heavy.

He thinks he shouldn't be feeling so drowsy when the dramatic music and clashing blades are blasting in his ears, but he's been able to get to bed through much more disruption in the past. Plus, with how groggy he still is, he feels like he'd be able to sleep soundly through a tornado. Despite the fact that he's technically feeling better in terms of the hangover, he can only feel his fever getting worse and his nose getting more plugged up and his throat getting scratchier as time goes on.

Logically, he knows he should be getting home and resting up, or even taking something to speed the process up, he doesn't feel much of an urge to get up.

He's far from comfortable. But he still finds a way to drift off.

When he comes to, the television is a black screen and he quickly realizes he doesn't remember how the movie ended at all. But, when he realizes where the weight on both of his sides is coming from, he decides he doesn't really mind at all.

Turning to look at the two, he notices right away that Nya isn't asleep, despite the fact that her head is turned away from him to the point where he can't see her face. He can tell from the way that she stiffens up when he shifts and the fact that he'd previously heard her muttering to herself something under her breath when he'd first woken up. Now, he doesn't recall what it was she'd been saying, but he supposes it doesn't matter too much.

He gives her a small smile and pushes against her gently. "Morning. I mean, again. Not really sure what time it is, but I'm guessing it's still morning."

It relaxes him a bit when she turns to face him. She stares blankly at his face like she's got something she's desperately trying to get out, but he doesn't know what _more_ she must have to tell him after everything that's happened within the last twenty-four hour time-frame. He reasons it can't be too bad, or even too shocking in comparison, so he stays silent and lets her collect her thoughts.

"Hey," Nya eventually says. A smile flashes across her face, but he doesn't comment on how fake it is because it's gone in a flash. "I just - ugh. I'm sorry."

He's taken aback by the sincerity in her voice. Where did _this_ come from? Sure, he hasn't been the best at following people's emotions - and he's definitely had even worse days when it comes to that - but he thought he'd had a pretty decent grasp on the situation up until now. She seems genuinely remorseful, like she knows she's done something wrong and like she's worried he's going to be upset with her for whatever it is.

Before he knows it, he's shaking his head and staring at her with his uncertainty etched onto his face. "Wait, what? What are you apologizing for?"

"I've been thinking. I just don't want things to change between the three of us," she sighs, keeping her voice to a breathy whisper, likely to avoid waking up Jay. He doesn't tell her why she doesn't need to do that, but he doesn't get much of a chance to, because she looks to the ground with the most pitiful expression he's seen on her yet. "I never wanted you to look at either of us differently, y'know? I get that it was a bad idea to bring it up in the first place, but can we just...forget it ever happened?"

_Forget it ever happened?_

If he wasn't sure she'd completely been mistaking his apprehension for outright rejection, he'd be more upset at the notion. It's not something he wants to forget or just look past. It's something that both Nya and Jay have clearly been earnest about asking him and, damn it, he'll take it seriously if it ends up killing him. And it very well might, at this rate.

Slowly, he asks the only thing he imagines will get right to the point. "So, you... _don't_ want me to date the both of you?"

This time, it's her turn to be caught off-guard.

She looks around the room briefly, as if to ask, _is this some weird dream?_ And then narrows her eyes at him. "What?"

"I mean, like," he starts, then stops himself. It's fair that she wouldn't understand where he's coming from. He's not even sure _he_ understands where he's coming from. Masters before him be damned, he's never had this much of an issue with problem solving in combat situations, so he's not sure what's preventing him from just saying what's on his mind. He takes a deep breath and lets it out before it chokes him. "I know I never really answered, but that's mostly 'cause I've been feeling pretty terrible and things have been a little weird since - "

"Y - Yeah, I know what you mean," and he gets that he doesn't need to elaborate on it. He's pretty sure that by doing what they did the night before, they tried to climb about ten steps with him on accident, while he's at this point just cautiously approaching the very first one.

Still, he manages not to let the conversation drop. "But, I never said no. It's just that before last night, it's never been something I thought was possible, or thought you'd both be interested in. Jay, least of all. I know how I feel about you, and how you feel about me, but Jay is - I don't know, I just wasn't _expecting_ \- I care about the both of you a lot," he stutters out, for some reason unable to find the right words. "This is just a _lot_ of information to take in all at once. I don't think I can know it'll work out unless we try, is the thing."

By the end of his sentence, Nya's gained a shining hope in her eyes, though it's mixed with heedful doubt.

She looks almost shy for a second when she asks him, "Are you saying...?"

Then, he gets the idea to do something he's wanted to do for a long time.

He leans in and kisses her.

Even before his lips touch hers, she'd been moving forward to return the gesture, and he can't help thinking with his hand at the side of her head and brushing her hair out of her face that she's just so _rough_. Her skin is mostly dry and her own hands, gripping at his sides, are firm and strong despite her not trying to dig into him with them. Nya takes over leading the kiss, obviously the one with more experience, and Cole's not sure if either of them really care that he's definitely going to get her sick.

When they pull away, he's brought back to reality and takes a moment to look into her eyes before slipping one of his hands low enough to find one of hers. He intertwines their fingers and gives a quick kiss to the side of her jaw, then looks back up at her. "I'm saying that I want to try."

" _Cole_ ," she says his name breathlessly, like the idea he'd want to be with them is something she'd never expected to happen.

They stay like that for a few seconds, foreheads leaning against each other and just staring, before Cole gets an unimpressed look on his face. Because he feels Jay's smile against his skin. He's had a feeling that the guy's been awake, but Cole hasn't said anything because he didn't think it was too big of a deal.

But he's had just about enough of the eavesdropping and cranks his neck to the side. "Dude, I know you're awake."

"Sorry," Jay opens one eye with a laugh and leans back, but not before pressing a kiss to Cole's shoulder, and the fire in the Earth Ninja's chest is just about ready to burn a hole inside of him. "Wanted to give you two some quality time together."

What Cole had interpreted as jealousy before, he now realizes wasn't that at all. At least, not that he can see now, looking back on it. It's hard to imagine there not being competition between them, but it's always felt more playful and with the intention of building each other up, right until the point that they'd started to first fight over Nya. The rivalry got a lot less friendly and a lot more damaging, as if the close friendship they'd developed over time was suddenly twisted and forgotten. They'd lost everything that made them work together when they were put in that position.

Now, though, it's different.

It feels normal and right, all of their feelings for each other being exposed and treated equally.

"You guys wanna watch another movie?" Nya asks after a loud yawn as she stretches her arms.

Then, Jay says just about the most earth-shattering thing that morning, eyes wide and staring off into the distance, "Weren't...we supposed to meet up with Kai and Zane today?"

Time stops for a second.

Cole's pretty sure that all three of their hearts skip a beat in automatic panic.

He rushes to fish his phone out of his pocket, just knowing that he's going to be met with at least one missed call from Zane and about thirty from Kai, as well as pages of messages from the latter. Looking up at the time in the corner, he can see that it's well past an hour after the time they were supposed to meet up at. Nya and Jay look on from both sides in exhausted guilt. He's not sure whether it makes him feel better or worse that all three of them had forgotten.

He's just about to open his messages - _how does someone even type that much_ \- and Cole suddenly thinks back to his insecurities on how he seemed to value his relationships with Jay and Nya more than those he had with the other three ninja, and suddenly realizes the truth of the situation.

It's not that he's been more detached from them lately in favor of the two sitting next to him. Instead, he's been unknowingly acting as that guy who spends all his time with his girlfriend.

Well.

Girlfriend and boyfriend.

The phone buzzes in his hand and he barely registers that he's gotten yet another irritated text from Kai because he's actually so flustered at the notion that he zones right out. Even as he rushes to form a decently worded apology text as the other two start to throw on their shoes and gather their things, it sticks in his mind. _Girlfriend and boyfriend_. Yeah, he can definitely work with that.

That might just be the best case scenario, in fact.


End file.
